Two passenger trains collided in western Japan Sunday in a suspected brake failure, killing a conductor and injuring at least 26 people, officials said.
"Two one-carriage trains collided on the Keifuku Railway, and 27 people were taken to hospital," said Kazuya Shimizu, a spokesman at Fukui Prefectural Police, some 320 kilometers (200 miles) northwest of Tokyo.
Tadao Sasaki, a 57-year-old conductor, died in the accident.
"At the time he was rushed to the hospital, the victim's heart and lungs were already failing to function in the ambulance car," another Fukui police official Hideo Iida said.
The accident occurred around 1:30 PM (0430 GMT) between the Higashi Furuichi station and the Shihizakai station on the single-track 27.8-kilometer (17.2-mile)-long Echizen Line, operated by Keifuku Electric Railroad Co.
From the Higashi Furuichi station, the main Echizen Line is connected to a shuttle service on the single-track Eiheiji Line serving the famous Buddhist temple of Eiheiji, the railway's spokesman said.
Despite the service on the 6.2-kilometer (3.8-mile)-long Eiheiji Line limited up to the Higashi Furuichi station, a train had entered the main railway, crashing face-to-face with another one on the Echizen Line.
"When the train on the Eiheiji Line entered the main line, we received wireless reports from the conductor that the brake was not working," said the operator's spokesman Shoji Igarashi.
"Of course we asked him to stop the train at the Higashi Furuichi station, but he couldn't." Sasaki, who was killed in the accident, was conducting the train.
A total of some 40 people were aboard the two trains when they collided, he added.
"We flew into the air, and then rolled over the floor," one of the passengers told Japan Broadcasting Corp. "Smoke came out and windowpanes fell over us," said the middle-aged man.
Police were investigating further, the operator said -- TOKYO (AFP)
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